


what brothers are for

by I_Write_Sans_Not_Tragedies



Series: learn to live [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Rape, Past Abuse, Platonic Relationships, honeymustard - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 23:30:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6541189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Write_Sans_Not_Tragedies/pseuds/I_Write_Sans_Not_Tragedies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red has a nightmare and Sans isn't there. Papyrus picks up the slack, but he bears a striking resemblance to another skeleton by the same name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what brothers are for

**Author's Note:**

> honeymustard was requested. there won't be any romance between skeletons in this fic, but here's some platonic honeymustard for ya sinners

Papyrus never missed the way Red looked at him when he came around a corner too fast or entered a room without the other knowing. The fear that would flash in his eyes was haunting, but Papyrus pretended not to notice. There was always a twinge of pain, though, knowing that the scarred monster still associated him with somebody as awful as his Papyrus had been.

He understood, though. He really did. 

He sat on the couch with the TV volume turned down. It was the middle of the night and he couldn’t sleep worth a damn, but G was a light sleeper and he didn’t want to wake the poor guy. 

As the weeks had passed, things had settled down into a routine. Red had a job, so did Sans and Papyrus, and Gaster was still recovering. It was the first night since the two timeline-hoppers had arrived that Sans was staying over at Alphys’s, something that he used to do on a weekly basis. Papyrus associated his lack of sleep with that, since Sans was the one who slept upstairs and usually kept sleepy tabs on Red and his father. Not that either really needed it. 

Papyrus understood that, too. He knew that they were completely capable of taking care of themselves, but he still felt like he needed to make sure they were safe and doing well. Especially G- god, he was a mess. Papyrus wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and tell him jokes until all of his fear and sadness evaporated, but that wasn’t going to happen and even if it did, jokes didn’t cure severe anxiety and a possible, equally severe case of PTSD. He hadn't thought it was possible to be worse than Red, but he’d been very wrong.

Papyrus was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought, when he heard something from upstairs. He thought immediately of Gaster, but he soon realized that it was somebody talking in their sleep, and Gaster couldn’t talk.

He waited for a moment as he turned off the TV. He heard it again, something that sounded sort of like whimpering, and his soul pulsed. 

He was too lazy to walk, so he teleported to Sans’s bedroom door and stopped to listen one more time. He didn’t like making Red uncomfortable, but he heard another noise and decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

He cracked open the bedroom door and found the skeleton curled up on his mattress. He was facing away from Papyrus, but he could still see that Red was shaking in his sleep.

“Red?” he said quietly. He was met with a soft noise, just as sad and heartbreaking as the first few, but as the monster walked over and looked down he saw that Red was still asleep.

Papyrus knelt down and put a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Red,” he murmured. It must’ve been one hell of a nightmare, because even that didn’t wake him. His face was twisted and he looked so scared and vulnerable.

Papyrus gave his shoulder a small shake. “Red, come on, bro, wake up.”

Red woke with a start and immediately shoved Papyrus’s hand away. It was dim in the room and his eyes were wild- they found Papyrus and he scrambled backwards off of the mattress.

“S-Sorry Boss, I’m sorry-” he whimpered. “I’m up- I-I'm up-”

“It’s me, Red,” Papyrus said. He couldn’t keep the sadness from his voice.

Sans was shaking as his eyes found Papyrus’s. They were wide and scared. As the moment dragged on, he looked away and reached up to wipe his eyes, realizing that Papyrus wasn't who he thought he was. Papyrus didn’t say anything. He waited for Red to do something, but the monster just let out a strangled laugh.

“Fuck,” he said. “I thought you… fuck.”

“It’s okay, man, we look pretty similar. You okay?”

He didn’t answer. He stayed where he was in the center of the room, sitting on his ass, staring at anything that wasn’t Papyrus. 

“Red, seriously, it’s okay.”

“Yeah, heh…” he trailed off and caught Papyrus’s gaze for a second before he averted it again.

The skeleton let out a deep breath, not in frustration or anger, but more in sadness. He got up and walked over to Red and took a seat beside him.

“You wanna talk about it?” he offered.

“I- no- I don’t know. It’s fucked up. It’s so fucked up.”

“That’s alright. Ya don’t have much say in what you dream about.”

Red stared down at the floor for a while. The house was silent aside from Red’s quickened breathing, but it was calming down. Papyrus waited patiently.

“He used to… y’know. He’d… fuckin’ hell,” Red said. He was crying again. Papyrus put a hand on his back and gave him a gentle nod.

Red looked at him for a second before he used the sleeve of his hoodie to mop up his tears. 

“He’d punish me for sleepin’ or takin’ naps, or just… because he could, I guess. He really liked that collar, heh,” Red said, but it was hollow and the white lights in his eyes had gone dark. “Kinda kinky. He’d r-” Red stopped and drew his knees up to his chest.

“You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to,” Papyrus said softly.

“I was his brother. I was his fucking brother… god damn it,” Red said with a watery laugh. “The first time he- did it- I… I just… fuck. Fuck.”

Papyrus rubbed the back of his ribcage.

“God- I tried fighting back sometimes, it just made it worse. I didn’t think it could get fucking worse than your own brother-” Red sucked in a breath- “he didn’t stop till I begged- or until he got me to… jesus christ… I didn’t want to… I didn’t fucking want to…”

“I know,” Papyrus said gently as he put his arm around the sobbing monster and drew him against his side. “I know, man.”

“Don’t tell Blueberry-” Red cried. “I don’t want him to know I… I fucking…”

“I won’t. It isn’t your fault, man. None of what he did to you was your fault.”

“I sucked his fucking dick,” Red hissed into his knees. “I let him get me off cause he said if I didn’t he’d put shit in my fucking eye socket- I didn’t even fucking fight it-”

“Red, you were just trying to survive. He’s the one who made you do that stuff. It’s his fault, not yours.”

Red pressed his face into Papyrus’s hoodie and held onto him. He was all but bawling into the orange fabric.

“Shh… it’s okay, dude,” Papyrus said as he held the sobbing monster. “I’ve got you.”

“I was his fucking brother,” Red whimpered into Papyrus’s chest.

“I’ve got you,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say. “I’m your brother now- fuck that other Papyrus, okay? That guy didn’t deserve to be your brother.”

“I was just as bad. I fucking- you know what I did- fuck. Fuck-”

“You were scared and alone and you did it because you wanted to die...” Papyrus would never excuse what the monster had done to Sans, but he’d forgiven him a very long time ago. “Red, you know he doesn’t blame you. I don’t either. You were in a really bad place and you were trying to live however you could… you’ve changed.”

“I keep dreamin’ about it- what he did, and I did, and- god, it’s so fucked up. Fuck... I'm so fucking sorry..."

“You were ready to die to protect me ‘n my bro back then,” Papyrus said softly. He squeezed Red a little tighter. “We never forgot that. Fuck, man, you saved both of our lives. You’re so much better than he ever was, and I’m always gonna be here for you. Don’t forget that, okay?”

“I’m such a fucking mess,” he mumbled, but he leaned closer to Papyrus and slumped against his side.

“You’re fine, dude,” Papyrus said. He rubbed Red’s arm. “Like, honestly, this is fine.”

Red was quiet for a little bit. Papyrus kept him close and clacked their skulls together after some time had passed. It was such a simple and innocent gesture, something he and Sans had done ever since they were kids, but Red always acted like it was some great act of kindness.

“Thanks for being here,” he murmured after a bit, looking sheepishly at the bigger monster. “Sorry for waking you up and shit…”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, I wasn’t even sleeping. How ‘bout I crash in here tonight, though? Since there’s an empty bed and all…”

“I guess that’d be okay,” he replied.

“Good, cause it’s my house and I’mma sleep where I want to,” Papyrus said, standing up and offering Red his hand. 

They both got settled in, Papyrus for once getting to sleep in an actual bed instead of the couch. He felt so fucking bad for Red, and he wished that he could do something about his nightmares. His words echoed in his mind... they'd been brothers. And yet Papyrus had still...

“Hey… Pap?” 

“Hmm?” He looked down and saw Red looking up at him with something strange on his face.

“Thanks… for everything, y’know,” he said softly. He wrapped himself in his blanket, so sad and fucked up and vulnerable.

Papyrus felt his soul beat.

“Don’t even mention it, Red. That’s what brothers are for, yeah?”

“... yeah.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is theperfecta, feel free to suggest stuff for these little ficlets/blurbs in the comments or on them tumbls. thanks!


End file.
